Main menu

The biggest NASCAR storylines to follow after the Daytona 500

New qualifying rules will take effect now that the Daytona 500 has concluded. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

They did it.

Junior and crew chief Steve Letarte started off the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season about as good as you possibly can. Their National Guard-sponsored Hendrick Motorsports team won the Daytona 500.

But now that the confetti has been swept up, the champagne bottles are in the recycle bin and the heady excitement of winning has turned into a dull headache—from the endless interviews and a lack of sleep, what’s next?

The rest of the season begins this coming weekend in Phoenix.

The distractions of the past two weeks in Florida are over. Dale Jr. and his NASCAR-racing friends and foes leave Daytona behind and turn their focus to "The Valley of the Sun."

It's there they will find the oddly shaped one-mile track at Phoenix International Raceway along with a new set of challenges and unanswered questions.